9th National Chinju-no-mori Kids Sumo Tournament

[mikawa 1,794]

The National Chinju-no-mori Kids Sumo Tournament (全国鎮守の森こども相撲大会) is a biennial sumo tournament for elementary school kids, organised by the various shrines around Japan. It is held at the Yasukuni Shrine, though apart from this, not much information is available on this tournament.

The 9th edition of this tournament was staged last weekend, and the few results that are known are as follows:

Grade 2 Winner: Kodama Hayato (児玉 颯飛)

We could be seeing a star of the future being born with this kid. Originally from Aomori (more specifically, the place where Onosho, Shinpo Kyoya and Narita Rikido grew up), he started learning sumo at the Mitaka Sumo Club in Tokyo about 2 years ago. Kodama Hayato has since then won a number of different tournaments, including the Grade 2 competition at this year's Hakuho Cup.

Perhaps even more impressively, last year he qualified for the finals of the Grade 4 or lower competition at the National Primary School Championships, whilst in Grade 2! That's only happened twice before, ever. He will be aiming to qualify for (and perhaps win) the Wanpaku Tournament next year.

Grade 3 Winner: Hirano Shurato (平野 修良斗)

A member of the Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Club in Tokyo (the one filmed in the documentary Chikara: A Sumo Wrestler's Son). His win was a bit of a surprise, as his year group tends to be dominated by 2 other kids, Nishijima Yura (西島 悠来) and Nakanishi Kaishin (中西 海心).

Grade 4 Winner: Tasaki Masami (田崎 正美)

A member of the Furuichi Sumo Dojo from Osaka, Tasaki Masami reached the semi-finals of the Grade 4 competition at last year's Wanpaku Tournament, where he lost to Sakamoto Shoma (坂本 正真), Tokitsukaze-oyakata's younger son.

Right in picture:

Grade 5 Winner: Narita Rikido (成田 力道)

Though unconfirmed, his name doesn't come as a surprise. His year group is a straight shoot-out between Narita Rikido from Aomori, and Uchida Kyota (内田 京汰) from Shizuoka. Here's the reason why:

Grade 3

National Primary School Championships: Narita (runner-up, in the Grade 4 or lower competition)

Hakuho Cup: Uchida (winner)

Grade 4

Wanpaku Tournament: Narita (winner), Uchida (semi-finals)

National Primary School Championships: Uchida (winner), Narita (runner-up)

Hakuho Cup: Uchida (winner), Narita (semi-finals)

Grade 5

Wanpaku Tournament: Narita (winner), Uchida (semi-finals)

National Primary School Championships: Uchida (winner), Narita (runner-up)

Hakuho Cup: Narita (runner-up)

Grade 6 Winner: Hanafusa Kai (花房 海)

As Kodama Hayato's senpai at Mitaka Sumo Club in Tokyo, Hanafusa Kai is the first ever rikishi in his club's young history to have had success at the national level. In Grade 3, he won the Hakuho Cup. In Grade 4, he reached the semi-finals of the National Primary School Championships. In Grade 5, he reached the semi-finals of the Wanpaku Tournament.

Along with his kohai Kodama Hayato, the 2 of them helped Mitaka Sumo Club to win the Shinkyu Jiken Tournament 2 years ago (the one featured in Begin Japanology), their club's first ever team triumph. Last year, in a huge shock, they combined again to achieve 2nd place at the National Youth Sumo Tournament (a 5-boy team competition). In their final match, their club narrowly lost 3-2 (you may be able to guess where the 2 came from :-) ). A golden generation indeed.

Here's a photo of the grade 3 winner Hirano Shurato receiving his certificate. To his right is Narita Rikido, and behind him stands Tasaki Masami:

And here's a group photo of Mitaka Sumo Club from Tokyo. The 2 kids holding up their trophies are Hanafusa Kai (left) and Kodama Hayato (right):

Edited July 26, 2016 by mikawa

[Akinomaki 41,739]

The pics won't show, just an advertisement in Chinese for each

[mikawa 1,794]

The pics won't show, just an advertisement in Chinese for each

Guess that didn't work then. I've been struggling to get photos included in the post. Do you have any suggestions?

[Akinomaki 41,739]

Could be that a part from the pic link address is unsuitable for other parts of the world, maybe some redirecting happens - or it could be a link that works just for you. You would either have to post a more direct link to the pic or use another site for uploading the pics.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Akinomaki

[mikawa 1,794]

Could be that a part from the pic link address is unsuitable for other parts of the world, maybe some redirecting happens - or it could be a link that works just for you. You would either have to post a more direct link to the pic or use another site for uploading the pics.

Okay, I'll try some other sites then. Yahoo blogs don't seem to be compatible with the forum.